Charles Watson, a pilot from rural Lexington, South Carolina, told me he considers himself one of the “forgotten men and women” that, in his speech, Trump vowed to represent over the next four years. Watson described himself as middle-class, and suggested political leaders prior to Trump looked out for immigrants, but not people like him. “I want to go back to how the country was born,” he told me after the ceremony, as supporters began to head for the exits. “I believe in American values. And I want to keep the American values going for my children and my grandsons.”

I found Laura Lenti watching a Jumbotron after the pomp and circumstance was over. It was close to the time when President Obama and the First Lady walked onto Marine One, inspiring claps and “see ya’s” from Trump fans not yet ready to leave the Mall. Lenti, a Trump supporter from Wisconsin, said it’s now “the people’s time” in America. She works in corrections, has “worked my butt off for my entire life, and I feel like every penny’s gone everywhere but me.”

For her, and for the country, she suggested, Trump could be a game-changer. “He’s one of us. Yeah. He’s one of us.”